Analysts Are Betting On Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) With A Big Upgrade This Week

Shareholders in Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) may be thrilled to learn that the analysts have just delivered a major upgrade to their near-term forecasts. The revenue forecast for this year has experienced a facelift, with analysts now much more optimistic on its sales pipeline. Investor sentiment seems to be improving too, with the share price up 6.7% to US$21.10 over the past 7 days. Could this big upgrade push the stock even higher?

Following the upgrade, the most recent consensus for Shore Bancshares from its twin analysts is for revenues of US$117m in 2022 which, if met, would be a substantial 50% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are presumed to soar 110% to US$1.63. Before this latest update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$91m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.59 in 2022. Sentiment certainly seems to have improved in recent times, with a considerable lift to revenue and a small increase to earnings per share estimates.

See our latest analysis for Shore Bancshares

Despite these upgrades, the analysts have not made any major changes to their price target of US$23.00, suggesting that the higher estimates are not likely to have a long term impact on what the stock is worth.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. It's clear from the latest estimates that Shore Bancshares' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 50% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2022 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 5.3% p.a. over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to grow their revenue 5.4% annually. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect Shore Bancshares to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The biggest takeaway for us from these new estimates is that analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, with improved earnings power expected for this year. Fortunately, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates sales are expected to perform better than the wider market. Seeing the dramatic upgrade to this year's forecasts, it might be time to take another look at Shore Bancshares.

Analysts are definitely bullish on Shore Bancshares, but no company is perfect. Indeed, you should know that there are several potential concerns to be aware of, including major dilution from new stock issuance in the past year. For more information, you can click through to our platform to learn more about this and the 2 other warning signs we've identified .

Of course, seeing company management invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are upgrading their estimates. So you may also wish to search this free list of stocks that insiders are buying.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.